Nina Garcia's Look Book is her latest tome for every fashionista. The Look Book - What to Wear for Every Occasion is divided into events such as a first date, interview, or black tie event and what is appropriate to wear at each.
For the past few years Nina has releasee a book during the fall. I wonder if this has anything to do with most major shopping clothing purchases are done in the fall. I get this. I didn't have a coat obsession until I moved to DC. I wear a coat from December to April and I love having different colors, patterns, and textures. I hate to admit even I have to resort to wearing a "puffy coat" some days when the temperatures dip to an unbearable temperature to this hot natured girl.
For all my fashionistas, wanna-be fashoinistas or all the fans of RubenToledo sketches this book is for you.
It's almost that time - time to spend the weekend with a stack of September fashion magazines. I subscribe to tons of magazines, but I always buy an extra issue of the September magazines to make tear sheets of what I plan to buy for fall. This year I am going to buy a few extra issues of Halle Berry on the cover of Vogue. The September issue is of course the big issue of Vogue. They made a movie about it for goodness sake. The beauty that is Halle is undeniable. This is a beautiful September issue cover.
I remember when I first read it Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I couldn't get enough. My life was in transition This book has two sides: people who love it (like me) and those who vehemently hate it. I can bring up this book to 10 women and it's always the same response (half love it/half hate it). Elizabeth has a new book Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace With Marriage and because I'm a fan of all her work I've plowed through it. I find that it has bits and pieces of Elizabeth's voice that I love reading. At times she can be overly thinking, but she gives a hilarious take on why she didn't want to marry, but eventually couldn't find a good enough reason not to.
I read Pilgrims and Stern Men eons before EPL and her writing makes me happy. Committed is vastly different, but I appreciate books of all kinds. Some I get and some I don't, but that won't make me stop reading it. Elizabeth is hilarious in person. I highly recommend attending one of her lectures to see her personality come through.
But when I saw the movie trailer for Eat, Pray, Love it made me want to revisit the book and curl up in its pages. It makes me want to visit Italy to feast (again), head to India with Kimberly Wilson and Darren Main to pray and practice yoga, and Bali to fall even deeper in love with l'homme. There is a line in the trailer where Julia Roberts says "I used to have an appetite for my life and now it's gone." I hope to always have an appetite for my learning full of learning, traveling, feasting, yoga practicing, being kind, and remembering that this is the only life I get.
I've cleared my calendar for Friday, August 13 so I can take in this movie in all its splendor with the one I love the most - me, myself and I. I already know the movie will leave out certain parts of the book, but this traveler can't wait to see all the gorgeous locations where they shot the movie.
Have a beautiful yoga filled weekend. I'm attending a Yoga and Wine Workshop and can't wait to tell ya'll how it went.
I used to be really good about doing my own nails. I spent almost every weekend painting Mama Dear's and my nails on our weekly visits to Louisiana. Yes, we went to Louisiana every weekend when I was a kid and I loved it. Mama Dear had the most amazing nails - natural, super long, and always polished. Whether she was delivering one baby or 5 babies a day as a midwife she was utter perfection. Somewhere about the age of 23 (I'm definitely dating myself) I started going to the salon for my weekly manicures and that was it.
Then I meet Erika (my beauty blogging best friend forever) and all of a sudden my weekly manicures at the salon start slacking. I find myself doing them at home. Erika hates getting manicures. Hate is a strong word, but she really dislikes getting manicures. She doesn't think they file her nails properly and let's not get her started on how they polish her nails. After visiting her family last month I realized I'm not nearly as obsessed as those girls. I know in a weekend I painted my nails 3 times and that's because Ms. Bree, Ms. Bailey, and Ms. Janey said "let's change nail colors."
I came home and decided to start devoting a little more time to myself and use the nail polish I keep buying. This brings me to Rescue Your Nails by Ji Baek. Ji is the creator of Rescue Beauty Lounge, a top nail salon in New York, which has its own range of nail polishes and luxurious body products. So, I'm taking Ji's advice with making time for more at home manicures. Because I need the relaxation I'm going to the salon for my pedicures. Some things I won't give up.
I've been working crazy hours over the past few weeks. It's one of those things where I'm enjoying being super busy, but the site is suffering because I just don't have the energy to focus once I get home. I needed some home time. Time to spend on my couch, wrapped up in a blanket, and a fun read. I jumped right into Zoey Dean's Hollywood is Like High School with Money and it was just the fun reading I needed. Dean is also the author of The Clique Series which I might read over Christmas. The book seems so dead-on that you know this stuff happens in Hollywood.
If you are looking for a fun book to enjoy and help with the holiday craziness - I suggest this book. You won't even notice waiting in the long lines at the airport.
Makeup Makeovers: Expert Secrets for
Stunning Transformations by Robert Jones is a great refresher course on all the different
types of makeup and what works best for your individual skin tone and
texture. It explains in detail the differences between finishes in detail
to help you make the best decisions for your personal needs. If you've
ever been confused about face and eye shapes and how to best accentuate
what you have this book really clears things up.
There is a lot of information
on the best colors and makeup application techniques to help you get
the best look for your individual skin undertones, eye and face shape
and eye and skin colors. All of the makeup tips in this book are geared
towards an extremely natural face and making you look like yourself,
only better and there are a lot of before and after pictures showing
the ways the tips can transform the face. This book is great for teens
or makeup novices as well as anyone who would like to learn more about
fixing facial flaws through makeup.
Carmindy's Get Positively Beautiful is
a book that I've read a few times and always find more tips each
time. It feels like Carmindy is talking directly to you and wants to
raise your self-esteem and help you to make yourself as beautiful as
possible by taking the time to pamper yourself and letting your natural beauty
shine through. With colorful pages, and makeup, this book is a really
fun read.
It’s broken up into sections for eyes, skin, cheeks, lips,
makeovers, and includes a shopping guide to help you find the perfect
items for you at both high and low price points. My favorite chapter
was Makeovers with Carmindy Vision where Carmindy points out the good
things about each person that they couldn’t see, it’s really uplifting
and fun. No matter how many times I read this book, I always enjoy it
and I would recommend checking it out or giving it to a friend in need
of a quick pick-me-up.
I'm addicted to Teen Vogue. My niece and I devour each issue and chat about it. Look how cute Chanel Iman and Jourdan Dunn look on the cover. This comes at such a great time because I'm trying to get her to commit to writing for the site while she attend the Teen Vogue University later this month in New York. Look out New York - Aunt JuJu and Jermany are coming.
The saying is that good things happens to those who wait. I have waited over 20 years to be featured in some aspect of Essence Magazine. I'm so happy to have been featured as one of the Top Online Black Beauty Bloggers for Essence.com. Many of you know that I have loved Essence Magazine since I was "knee high to a grasshopper" as my dad would say.
I have been reading the magazine for well over 25 years. I remember stealing or borrowing without asking my mother's subscription until she finally gave me my own subscription at 15. I still plan to submit my photo and essay to their annual January issue of being fabulous after 40. I'm a few years off so we will worry about that issue when the time come .
I'm so happy to be in the company of such smart, engaging, and oh so pretty women. Tia - Shake Your Beauty (my fairy beauty godmother and who turned me on to the beauty blogging game. She is a beauty rock star), Patrice - Afrobella (every word she writes makes me want to be a better writer); and she's so scandalous - Erin of Scandalous Beauty (she makes me want to do more videos on the site).
Thanks Essence.com. I'm proud to be in such great company. You make me proud to spell my name -W-O-M-AN.
One of my teenage nieces happens to be obsessed with fashion
and beauty.. Aunt Ju-Ju will definitely
have to give her The Teen Vogue Handbook:
An Insiders’ Guide to Careers in Fashion edited by Amy Astley,
Editor-In-Chief of Teen Vogue. The book has photos and interviews with Marc Jacobs, Bruce Weber, Patrick Demarchelier, and many more. It also has
section from editors and assistants.
Vogue
Editor-in Chief Anna Wintour says, “Do your homework, go online, visit every
museum, and intern. You just need to have a love for what you’re doing. It’s
not about thinking that it’s the cool thing; it’s about really believing in
it.”
Some
of the highlights are:
a Q&A with the king of cool, Marc Jacobs
words of wisdom from Karl Lagerfeld and Anna Wintour
profiles of contributing photographers
a list of essential beauty products from industry pros
advice from stylists and model scouts
practical advice from models, assistants and interns
This year's fashion-business-tell-all is The Towering World of Jimmy Choo by Laura Goldstein Crowe and Sagra Maceira de Rosen. It's an exhilirating read on how the the successful luxury shoe brand came to fruition and how it's putting luxury shoes in another fashion realm. It is a fascinating read not only on the business of creating Jimmy Choo, but how Tamara Mellon changed the brand into a household name.
I am a huge fan of the sexy shoes. I believe that the print ads speak volumes for the brands and you can see the hand of Tamara in every ad. I enjoyed this book as much as I enjoyed Deluxe. This is a must have for any shoe, luxury product, and style loving beauty girl. It may be written by two talented business writers, but it's a must-have summer read.
It was just a dream when Glamour.com featured me as one of their VIP Beauty Bloggers. But then, it happened. I'm in print - on page 83. A huge thank you to Glamour Magazine and all the wonderful ladies from Beth to Fiorella to the entire team that has made this possible. When I started in this beauty blogging journey I never ever in a million zillion years thought that this would happen to me.
I started this journey at such a crazy time in my life (I'm working on telling that story in more detail), but it's the joy of having readers understand my love of all that is beauty. I know that right now in our world it's rough. I get that we need we need an escape and for many I'm that wonderful escape of figuring out how to live a life full of passion, purpose, and lip gloss.
It's not because of me, but God, my family, and my readers. To my readers, thank you. I may not have personally ever met you, thank you.
City Chic 2E: The Modern Girl's Guide to Living Large on Less is a must have read for a beauty at this moment in our time. I'm really blessed that right now I'm able to cut back on certain items, but still able to splurge on what I truly love. I'm forever grateful.
Nina is the editor-in-chief of Budget Travel and Girlfriend Getaways (my favorite) so if she can teach me how to snag a deal at five-star resorts I know she can help you live large on less. She has a guide on finding the best deals for home, travel, and clothing. I have the first edition and the second is a lot more comprehensive. It also includes recipes which is great because everyone should know how to fix something fabulous to eat on a budget.
My personal shopping motto for 2009 is buy what I love.
The rumor has been that First Lady Michelle Obama would be on the cover of Vogue for March. Well, it's a rumor no more. She looks stunning and she will be wearing some of her favorite designers - Narciso, J. Crew, and Jason Wu. I've already contacted my bookstore to hold one back for me to save. I will read the issue that comes in the mail.
The photos were taken at the Hay Adams Hotel, which has the best view of the White House on a great summer evening with a cocktail. I've enjoyed many a glass of champagne on that roof top and can't wait to see the view again this summer.
Nadine has done it to me again. She's written a super-funny-beauty-junkie book that you will fall head over heels in love with. Confessions of a Beauty Addict is a fun-filled ride through your makeup bag and life. I heart Bella Hunter. I really do. I met Nadine last summer in L.A., but it took sharing an apartment in Paris for me to really get to know her. We both have an insane obsession with anything French and we can't get enough of Paris, food and wine, and travel. We stayed up late one night with a bottle of Bordeaux going over places we wanted to visit and what we wanted to eat while there.
Okay, back to the book. COABA is part memoir, part fiction, and 100% part of my bookshelf. You will find yourself having a roller coaster of emotions because you may not be standing in Bella's Manolos, but you completely identify with what she's going through. Part of you wants to envy her and the other part feels bad for what's she's going through. This belongs on every beauty junkies' bookshelf. After finishing the book I can't help but love Nadine more. She's truly a gem and I heart her.
I'm having a Kate Winslet moment and it's not going away any time soon. I have movie dates to catch her Golden Globe winning performances before The Oscars. I love the color of this color. It's so fresh and so clean, clean. I am taking this with me next month to St. Croix.
Have you noticed something different about this Vogue magazine cover. The cover subject is smiling, which looks refreshing for January. I have loved Anne Hathaway since the The Princess Diaries movie. I remember my niece Jasmine telling me "Aunt Ju-Ju you must read them!" After years of buying her the books I finally decided to read them. Now, I'm a huge Meg Cabot fan. It's great to see Anne looking so splendid on the cover and in the slide show. I loved her in The Devil Wears Prada, but seeing her in Rachel Getting Married just sealed the deal for me.
Daniel Vosovic's Fashion Inside Out is a collector's book for fashion junkies. Daniel takes you into the world of fashion from the ideas that translate to sketches until the final product - the clothes. The book shows a lot of detail that you may have missed watching him on Project Runway. The book also focuses on marketing, which most fashion books never talk about the business of selling the clothes. The photos are luscious and you can see all the details of his creations in them. This is a fashion book that you want to read curled up in a chair, with a blanket and a cup of tea.
It's available for pre-order and ready to be delivered into my hands. Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual will be available December 1. The book is for the novice and the experienced beauty junkie. You will find tips and tricks to create the best face for you. There's chapters on makeup artistry, tools, skincare, hands, feet, and advanced techniques. This book is completely different from any others that Bobbi has ever created. This is a great present for yourself or for someone who is interested in makeup, but just doesn't know where to start. It's truly about to be the most wonderful time of the year.
I was so excited to get home last night just to watch Oprah and see Dr. Oz talk about his new book You Being Beautiful: The Owner's Manual to Inner and Outer Beauty. The show was informative about sunscreen, Vitamins A, C, & E helps wrinkles. He also said exfoliation works, which I'm a big believer that you must do. I definitely believe in "inner beauty." I was taught to be beautiful inside and out.
But as I looked at the dermatologist Dr. Evans I kept thinking "Botox, Restylane, Juviderm and any other filler in the office." Yes, she gave great information, but she should have said "this needle works too."
Also, I love products because there is nothing like a beauty product to
pick you up. I never met an eye cream I didn't want to try. I have
put my face in one of those machines that shows what is happening
beneath the skin. It revealed I take care of my skin. I've been told
all my life that "black don't crack" but it does need some help. Plus,
beauty makes us feel alive and life is worth living. Beauty shopping and all.
Lancôme is hosting an exclusive book party for The Dress Doctor – Prescriptions for Style, from A to Z, an adaptation of the best-selling style guide by Edith Head. Head (1897 – 1981) is the most celebrated costume designer of all time and dressed some of Hollywood’s most influential style icons like Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, Ingrid Bergman, Elizabeth Taylor and countless others. She was nominted fo rthirty-four Academy Awards and won eight times for Best Costume Design, more than any other woman to date.
Beginning this weekend, Lancôme is hosting in-store events in celebration of the book at our boutiques. Schedule an appointment with one of our makeup artists at the locations listed below to create your own modern-day Hollywood look inspired by the book. Enjoy complimentary cocktails, hors d’oeuvres and take home your very own copy of The Dress Doctor with any Lancôme purchase of $100.
Readers can call their nearest Lancôme Boutique to book an appointment. (A $75 reservation fee is required and fully redeemable in product.)
November 15th: VALLEY FAIR – 2855 Stevens Creek Blvd. Santa Clara, CA 95050 Phone: 408-244-8334; NORTHPARK – 8687 North Central Expressway Dallas, TX 75225 Phone: 214-750-9364
November 20th: SHORT HILLS – 1200 Morris Turnpike Short Hills, NJ 07078 Phone: 973-258-0790
November 22nd: UPPER WEST SIDE – 201 Columbus Ave. (at 69th Street) New York, NY 10023 Phone: 212-362-4858; BREA – 1102-a Brea Mall Brea, CA 92821 Phone: 714-671-0267
Candy Pratts Price, the Exectuve Fashion Director of Style.com has a new book entitled American Fashion Accessories. I am a huge fan of any book by Assouline. I haven't been disappointed with Carolina, Oscar, Amy Sacco, Lee, Diane, and The Proust Questionnaire in Pink. I definitely plan to stop in the new Assouline boutique in the Plaza in December when I head to NY for my birthday.
Stunning. This is the only word that comes to mind when I see Reese Witherspoon on the November 2008 cover of Vogue. I even like the "no smile, but fab red lips." I have loved Reese forever. The turning point was not Legally Blonde, but Election which proved her comedic turn as an actress. I still watch Sweet Home Alabama. Then there was the moving portrayal in Walk the Line. I also love a woman who could name her production company Type A - if you know me you get it.
But it's the slideshow on Style.com that has me drooling. The clothes from Nina Ricci are exquisitely divine. I'm still in a Paris state of mind and this photo shoot isn't helping.
From one Southern girl to another - Reese you wow me.
I have had a crush on Michael Roberts for years. It started back when he was the Fashion Director of the New Yorker, but since he has moved on to Vanity Fair my crush is getting larger with each issue. If you haven't picked up his books you must pick up his Fashion Victims to add to your fall reading list. I've never met him, but I have admired him from afar. He has a great eye for fashion and photography.
As I was doing my daily reading of Vanity Fair.com, I came across this photo of Amy Adams on their November 2008 cover. The photo screams glamour. I love it. It's art and fashion at its best. Michael Roberts you continue to leave me speechless. I love how you WOW me. Please don't stop.
Thank you the Amazon.com book gods for pre-order alerts. I LOVE YOU AMAZON. I have been a fan of Candace Bushnell for years. Before the SATC series I was a fan of hers. I even have a first edition of Sex and the City with Candace on the cover. Candace's new book One Fifth Avenue arrives on September 22.
Here's a synopsis from Amazon.com: “Sex in the City goes middle-aged, mordant and slapstick in Bushnell's chronicle of writers, actors and Wall Street whizzes clashing at One Fifth Avenue, a Greenwich Village art deco jewel crammed with regal rich, tarty upstarts and misguided lovers. When a Queen of Society dies, a vicious scramble for her penthouse apartment ensues, and it's attorney Annalisa and her hedge-funder husband, Paul Rice, who land the palatial pad, roiling the building's rivalries. There's Billy Litchfield, an art dealer who slobbers over the wealthy; strivers Mindy and James Gooch, and their tech-savvy 13-year-old Sam, the most hilariously bitter (and strangely successful) family in the building; gossip columnist Enid Merle and her screenwriter nephew, Philip Oakland, who struggle to uphold traditions and their souls; actress Schiffer Diamond, who lands a hit TV series, and her old love; and Lola Fabrikant, a cunning Atlanta gold digger whose greatest ambition is to become Carrie Bradshaw. Here are bloggers and bullies, misfits and misanthropes, dear hearts and black-hearts, dogfights and catty squalls spun into a darkly humorous chick-lit saga.”
I can't wait to curl up with this book. It will take precedent over some of the books that I get at the National Book Festival.
This must be my weekend of Amazon purchases. Not only do I have two new cookbooks coming, but I have also ordered Nina Garcia's The Hundred. Ruben Toledo is back with his amazing illustrations. I fell in love with The Little Black Book of Style and I still love referring back to it as much as I can. Thank goodness for that Amazon Prime membership.
This is how you rock a September cover. You put one of the hottest girls in the game on your cover. You understand that the buzz around her style is everywhere. I'm loving this cover for September. So far this is my favorite of all the September covers I have seen.
I'm sitting at my desk drooling. I'm drooling over the fashion and behind the scenes information on the movie. It has everything I loved about the movie, but it includes a description of each and every outfit worn by Carrie, Miranda, Samantha and Charlotte. It's glorious.
The fabulous writer, Felicia Sullivan, is having a giveaway of two books. The deadline is midnight tonight.
I just saw this cover and I was like "you go Ms. Eva" or "you go Mrs. Parker." The color is so bright and spring-like. My girl is rocking beautiful makeup and let's not mention that piece of sparkle on her hand. I've been looking at winter clothes and makeup and it is so nice to see something that brightens my day. Plus, I can't wait to plan some spring purchases to go with my spring products.
Ready, set, spring is almost here. Let's get ready to glow girl.
"To love oneself is the beginning of a life-long romance."
Oscar Wilde
"The only real elegance is in the mind; if you've got that, the rest really comes from it."
Diane Vreeland
"Only when we are no longer afraid do we begin to live."
Dorothy Thompson
"Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration."
Thomas Alva Edison
"Life is the flower for which love is the honey."
Victor Hugo
"Always be kinder than necessary."
James M. Barrie
"Dwell in possibility."
Emily Dickinson
"The only real elegance is in the mind; if you've got that, the rest really comes from it."
Diane Vreeland
"Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime."
Mark Twain
"Beauty is an ecstasy; it is as simple as hunger. There is really nothing to be said about it. It is like the perfume of a rose: you can smell it and that is all."
W. Somerset Maugham
"A woman who does not perfume herself has no future."
French Poet Paul Valery
"To begin with, let us take the following motto...Literature is Love. Now we can continue."
Vladimir Nabokov
"I can be changed by what happens to me. But, I refuse to be reduced by it."
Maya Angelou
"Style is knowing who you are, what you want to say, and not giving a damn."
Gore Vidal
"Perfume is like love, you can never get enough of it"
Estee Lauder
"Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is mystery. Today is a gift."
Eleanor Roosevelt
"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent"
Eleanor Roosevelt
"Small minds discuss other people while great minds discuss ideas."
